Dawn on the Ghats of Varanasi

We took a rowboat out onto the Ganges before sunrise, and watching the ghats slowly wake up, bells ringing, smoke rising from the burning ghats, pilgrims wading in for their morning prayers, is something that's stayed with us since. It's chaotic and sacred at once, in a way that's hard to describe until you're actually floating past it.

That evening's Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat, dozens of priests moving in unison with fire and bells while thousands watched from the steps and the water, felt like the whole trip distilled into one hour.